001). The plasma D-dimer changes regularly during CDT for ALI. We can predict the efficacy of CDT and guide adjustments of the therapeutic regimen according to the trend of D-dimer changes during thrombolysis.Precipitates in an austenitic stainless steel fabricated via any Additive Manufacturing (AM), or 3D printing, technique have been widely reported to be only Mn-Si-rich oxides. However, via Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) studies on a 316L stainless steel, we show that non-oxide precipitates (intermetallics, sulfides, phosphides and carbides) can also form when the steel is fabricated via Laser Metal Deposition (LMD)-a directed energy deposition-type AM technique. An investigation into their origin is conducted with support from precipitation kinetics and finite element heat transfer simulations. It reveals that non-oxide precipitates form during solidification/cooling at temperatures???0.75Tm (melting point) and temperature rates???105 K/s, which is the upper end of the maximum rates encountered during LMD but lower than those encountered during Selective Laser Melting (SLM)-a powder-bed type AM technique. Consequently, non-oxide precipitates should form during LMD, as reported in this work, but not during SLM, in consistency with existing literature.Burkholderia pseudomallei (Bp) is the causative agent of melioidosis, a disease endemic to the tropics. Melioidosis manifests in various ways ranging from acute skin lesions to pneumonia and, in rare cases, infection of the central nervous system. Bp is a facultative intracellular pathogen and it can infect various cell types. The Bp intracellular lifecycle has been partially elucidated and is highly complex. Herein, we have identified a transcriptional regulator, BP1026B_II1198, that is differentially expressed as Bp transits through host cells. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/dynasore.html A deletion mutant of BP1026B_II1198 was attenuated in RAW264.7 cell and BALB/c mouse infection. To further characterize the function of this transcriptional regulator, we endeavored to determine the regulon of BP1026B_II1198. RNA-seq analysis showed the global picture of genes regulated while ChIP-seq analysis identified two specific BP1026B_II1198 binding regions on chromosome II. We investigated the transposon mutants of these genes controlled by BP1026B_II1198 and confirmed that these genes contribute to pathogenesis in RAW264.7 murine macrophage cells. Taken together, the data presented here shed light on the regulon of BP1026B_II1198 and its role during intracellular infection and highlights an integral portion of the highly complex regulation network of Bp during host infection.In intra-operative navigation, a registration procedure is performed to register the patient's position to the pre-operative imaging data. The registration process is the main factor that determines accuracy of the navigation feedback. In this study, a novel registration protocol for craniofacial surgery is presented, that utilizes a virtual splint with marker points. The accuracy of the proposed method was evaluated by two observers in five human cadaver heads, for optical and electromagnetic navigation, and compared to maxillary bone-anchored fiducial registration (optical and electromagnetic) and surface-based registration (electromagnetic). The results showed minimal differences in accuracy compared to bone-anchored fiducials at the level of the infra-orbital rim. Both point-based techniques had lower error estimates at the infraorbital rim than surface-based registration, but surface-based registration had the lowest loss of accuracy over target distance. An advantage over existing point-based registration methods (bone-anchored fiducials, existing splint techniques) is that radiological imaging does not need to be repeated, since the need for physical fiducials to be present in the image volume is eradicated. Other advantages include reduction of invasiveness compared to bone-achnored fiducials and a possible reduction of human error in the registration process.Reconciliation is a key element of continuous-variable quantum key distribution (CV-QKD) protocols, affecting both the complexity and performance of the entire system. During the reconciliation protocol, error correction is typically performed using low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes with a single decoding attempt. In this paper, we propose a modification to a conventional reconciliation protocol used in four-state protocol CV-QKD systems called the multiple decoding attempts (MDA) protocol. MDA uses multiple decoding attempts with LDPC codes, each attempt having fewer decoding iteration than the conventional protocol. Between each decoding attempt we propose to reveal information bits, which effectively lowers the code rate. MDA is shown to outperform the conventional protocol in regards to the secret key rate (SKR). A 10% decrease in frame error rate and an 8.5% increase in SKR are reported in this paper. A simple early termination for the LDPC decoder is also proposed and implemented. With early termination, MDA has decoding complexity similar to the conventional protocol while having an improved SKR.We report a shipping container that enables a disruptive logistics for cytogenetic biodosimetry for radiation countermeasures through pre-processing cell culture during transportation. The container showed precise temperature control ( less then ?0.01 °C) with uniform sample temperature ( less then ?0.1 °C) to meet the biodosimetry assay requirements. Using an existing insulated shipping box and long shelf life alkaline batteries makes it ideal for national stockpile. Dose curve of cytogenetic biodosimetry assay using the shipping container showed clear dose response and high linear correlation with the control dose curve using a laboratory incubator (Pearson's correlation coefficient 0.992). The container's ability of pre-processing biological samples during transportation could have a significant impact on radiation countermeasure, as well as potential impacts in other applications such as biobanking, novel molecular or cell-based assays or therapies.Cutaneous basal cell carcinoma (cBCC) is an economic burden to health services, due to its great morbidity and increasing incidence in old people. Infiltrative cBCCs and cBCCs with micronodular pattern are considered as more aggressive. The role of p53 expression and TERTp mutation on cBCC behavior remains to be clarified. We aimed to assess TERTp mutations and p53 expression in relation to the cBCC histological subtype in a cohort of patients referred to an ENT Department of a tertiary Hospital of Northern Portugal. We performed a retrospective clinicopathological and histological review of the head and neck cBCCs followed-up at the otorhinolaryngology department of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro hospital (January 2007-June 2018). We assessed TERTp mutations in 142 cBCCs and p53 protein expression, through immunohistochemistry, in 157 cBCCs. We detected TERTp mutations in 43.7% of cBCCs and p53 overexpression in 60.5% of cBCCs. We spotted association of p53 overexpression and TERTp mutation with necrosis. In the infitrative-growth pattern cBCCs, there was no significant association with the clinical and histological features evaluated, except for necrosis.